Some weeks...a whole month passed in game as they were being trained by Eden. Due to the sheer fact that the group could not even move after an hour run with Eden's training courses; Eden had to modify the training itself with the group being not allowed to go personal training since their base stats were way too low for Eden's standards. As such the entire day was delicates to the training courses that they were forced into.

For a whole month, the group slowly increased their stats and became stronger with each session bit by bit. For a whole month, they learnt to mentally accept the cruel reality in front of them and keep on moving forward.

If this was a movie, it would be very moving, but Eden is the kind of person that shatters such feelings with ease.

“From the start you guys barely made it through one hour on this thing....one month later you can somewhat manage up to 5 hours now. Not bad indeed....” said Eden in praise of the group.

They were wearing gear that would act to help them on their training. Their normal equipment in the middle actually broke into pieces and could not be repaired. As such Eden said that the Guild would give them new equipment when they needed it since the equipment they had was at best cheap.

“First of all, let's see how you guys improved in the stats department.”

Eden opened up the group's status window; one of the privileges of a Independent Guild Master that many would want to have. Of course you need permission to perform this act without the consent of the other side from the Emperor himself, but Eden was one of these trusted people.

“Open Status Windows!”

Status WindowSainShadow[quart=Race: Human,Race: Human]Type: Neutral,Type: Neutral[/quart][quart=Level: 56,Level: 56]Class: Shaman,Class: Rogue[/quart][quart=Title: Tactician,Title: Dark Walker]Fame: 80,Fame: 80[/quart][quart=Health: 2550,Health: 2232]Mana: 972,Mana: 407[/quart][quart=Strength: 81 +21,Strength: 74 +22]Agility: 98 +26,Agility: 224 +26[/quart][quart=Intelligence: 71 +14,Intelligence: 10 +4]Wisdom: 70 +24,Wisdom: 10 +4[/quart][quart=Vitality: 94 +4,Vitality: 79 +4]Stamina: 81 +7,Stamina: 98 +7[/quart][quart=Fighting Spirit: 26 +12,Fighting Spirit: 32 +12]Endurance: 22 +4,Endurance: 18 +4[/quart][quart=Leadership: 9 +4,Leadership: 0 +4]Luck: 4 +4,Luck: 29 +14[/quart][quart=Offense: 16,Offense: 12]Defence: 23,Defence: 26[/quart]

Status WindowRavenLyndis[quart=Race: Human,Race: Elf]Type: Neutral,Type: Neutral[/quart][quart=Level: 56,Level: 56]Class: Shield Footman,Class: Sword Priest[/quart][quart=Title: Shield-Bearer,Title: Blade Dancer]Fame: 80,Fame: 80[/quart][quart=Health: 4104,Health: 2371]Mana: 462,Mana: 742[/quart][quart=Strength: 140 +31,Strength: 134 +21]Agility: 94 +16,Agility: 121 +6[/quart][quart=Intelligence: 10 +9,Intelligence: 71 +17]Wisdom: 15 +9,Wisdom: 12 +7[/quart][quart=Vitality: 146 +24,Vitality: 83 +4]Stamina: 105 +12,Stamina: 84 +7[/quart][quart=Fighting Spirit: 28 +17,Fighting Spirit: 16 +10]Endurance: 32 +9,Endurance: 19 +3[/quart][quart=Leadership: 0 +9,Leadership: 0 +4]Luck: 0 +9,Luck: 2 +4[/quart][quart=Offense: 22,Offense: 18]Defence: 36,Defence: 35[/quart]

Status WindowMirielSerena[quart=Race: Night Elf,Race: Half-Elf]Type: Neutral,Type: Neutral[/quart][quart=Level: 56,Level: 58]Class: Magician Bard,Class: Druid[/quart][quart=Title: Sound Maiden,Title: Nature Wielder]Fame: 80,Fame: 100[/quart][quart=Health: 1073,Health: 1104]Mana: 1582,Mana: 1468[/quart][quart=Strength: 15 +11,Strength: 14 +23]Agility: 77 +16,Agility: 78 +6[/quart][quart=Intelligence: 188 +16,Intelligence: 134 +14]Wisdom: 73 +16,Wisdom: 127 +24[/quart][quart=Fighting Spirit: 10 +9,Fighting Spirit: 10 +15]Endurance: 15 +4,Endurance: 15 +4[/quart]Concentration: 10 +3Concentration: 10 +4[quart=Vitality: 25 +4,Vitality: 25 +4]Stamina: 58 +7,Stamina: 55 +19[/quart][quart=Leadership: 0 +4,Leadership: 0 +4]Luck: 0 +4,Luck: 2 +4[/quart][quart=Offense: 10,Offense: 10]Defence: 10,Defence: 10[/quart]

“Oh~” Eden looked a bit impressed, “In only a month, all of your health increased by 300. Too bad that the max amount of stamina you can gain through this is only 40 overall while the agility gain is based on the course you did with the inner one with only 10, middle with 20 and outer with 40! Of course Vitality gain is limited to a total of 15 and Strength and Endurance gain is limited to 5 is also a real shame! Hahaha, the fact that you guys max these points out means you guys suffered quite a bit!”

'And who's fault this that?!' the group screamed in their hearts.

“Well I think this is the limits of this kind of training. If you want to properly increase the strength stat a bit more along with vitality and the rest, it would do good to take a sword and hit scarecrows and finish the proper Basic Training. Well what you guys did was an altered version of that so you all have the qualifications to do the intermediate training centre if you want.”

Eden has deemed that you have cleared his Altered Basic Training

- Fame increased by 30

- Able to challenge the Intermediate Training Centre

The group got that message in front of them with Eden's words. While they had no intentions of challenging something harder than what they had to suffer though any time soon, the Fame was a nice reward itself. With this, at least everyone's fame now is over 100.

However the biggest harvest of this kind of training was that the group gained a number of skills. Running skills that reduce stamina consumption and increased speeds, balancing skills that made it harder to fall off a log and so on were gained during this one month and the group were actually quite excited to train it up a bit more while they can in order to make the run afterwards more useful. It was a nice feeling to think that your character was slowly getting stronger like this.

But Eden was something like a demon; no worst than one.

“Right, I should erase those useless skills then.”

“Eh?”

The group could not comprehend Eden's words.

Under the Power of Eden, all skills that have been gained and trained during this one month of training will be deleted.

“What?”

Sain quickly opened his skill window to check his skills.

“....”

All of the usual skills he had before the training started were there but....the rest from that time onwards was gone.

“Why the hell did you do that?!” asked Lyndis in anger. Skills were something that were gained painstakingly and trained and could not be deleted so easily.

“Oh I used a skill called 'All Fiction' to remove them” Eden explained.

“That's not the point!” retorted Miriel as well losing her calm at Eden.

Eden sighed and them let out some pressure on the group to calm them down. Even Raven the quiet one and Serena the timid on was looking quite angry at him.

“No choice...” muttered Eden apologising to the group in his heart. A sudden pressure that was something that the group save one has experienced before. It was like their hearts with their body...no even their souls were being crushed in front of them.

There was no emotion left beside fear to this being in front of them.

You are in the presence of the Destroyer

You are in a state of Fear

You are in a state of Panic

You are in a state of confusion

All skills will be sealed

Stats will be reduced to half

All regeneration will cease

Movement will be heavily restricted

When the group was about to faint, the pressure that was crushing them disappeared.

“Ha...ha....ha....”

The group was left more exhausted then their last running session in the training course. This was a pressure that stopped Dragons and even Gods in their tracks, a mere group of weak players could not resist it at all.

“First....let me clear the space for now.”

Eden did what he did a month ago and changed the layout of the training grounds. It was now the same as before, as if the devices from hell did not exist at all. It was a power that could only be called a miracle if not for the fact that Eden was using it to torment the group with his 'training'.

“Anyway, let's go to the vortex world where I can explain everything to you lot....though I suppose I need to wait until you guys can move again....” Eden looked at the group with eyes of pity; pity that they were so weak.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

In the vortex world, Eden started his explanation of deleting their hard earn skills without warning.

“The simple reason is that they will get in the way of learning your other skills which are much more powerful and useful. If you have a skill that allows you to run a bit faster already, you aren't as encouraged to get a skill that allows you to run much faster.”

Eden took out a long iron sword that was as tall as Serena and stabbed it in the ground with a smile.

“If there's no questions then, I'll begin the individual training. Who wants to be first.”

“....”

The group was completely silent since they do not want to suffer under the hands of Eden. After that month of hell itself, the group didn't believe a word that Eden said and was very cautious in allowing him to do things to them.

“I'll be the first then” said Lyndis with confidence, “You won't let me go in a vegetable state right Guildmaster?”

“Wha-what the hell do you think I am?” Eden retorted seeing that the group now had similar thoughts to the masters that he trained a long time ago in just a month. Eden sighed at this fact and then said to the rest of the group.

“Just stay there and watch, if you ask questions then Lyndis' training will be interrupted. Well this won't take more than a few minutes since we're at the start.”

Eden walked quite a distance away from the group and Lyndis followed him. They were now around 10 metres away from the group, a safe distance by any measure.

“First of all, you only have the basic sword mastery along with some minor powers of fire right?” asked Eden when they began.

“Yes.”

“....”

Eden started at Lyndis for a while and then said, “Does Ron dislike you that much...? Well you are similar to him in a way before he became like that. Well that just means I can being you up in a different path than him much more easily.”

“Don't worry, I don't like Ron as well” Lyndis said plainly. Hearing this, Eden's eyes shone for a split second before going back to normal.

“Good, in that case you will have no trouble in being the polar opposite of Ron right?”

“Polar opposite?” Lyndis looked confused at this question and statement.

“Yep, Ron is the super defensive type that won't even leave it to chance. Long story short, I made him into a half spirit or a pseudo spirit being that can freely turn into any element. Quite powerful mind you and nigh impossible to kill. Think as Ron like a Phoenix which recovers health every time it gets hit by fire and expand that to all elements at once.”

“Wow....how do you take down something like that?” Lyndis asked with her impression on Ron slightly higher now.

“Well...there are many ways like bombarding him with multiple elements and try to take that chance since he can only align to one element at a time. Another way is to use something that is non-elemental which in all honestly doesn't have as much power as elemental weapons. The final way is....something that can destroy the root of his power” Eden had a serious look on his face when he said that final sentence but Lyndis decided to to ask on it.

“Anyway first, let's explain what a Sword Priest is.”

Eden pulled out a whiteboard out of nowhere in an age where everything would be done from a digital screen that could be interacted by a person by hand. It is another thing that shows the age of Eden who lived in the previous 'era'.

Eden using the marker quickly drew a mini version of both Ron and Lyndis. They actually looked quite cute with their small size and large head to body proportion. The strange thing was that the armour and face details were amazingly detailed.

“Cute!” said Lyndis amazed by the pictures Eden just drawn, “Can you make dolls of them later?”

“Sure why not” Eden laughed at the simple request. Usually people would request unreasonable things like an A rank skill book, or unique grade weapon from him or even his service in fighting a relatively weak monster compared to him for their own convenience. Because of this, Eden carefully selected the requests he does.

“Anyway...”

Eden quickly drew some circles and words on the board connecting them together with lines.

“A Sword Priest is a hidden class that you can get by normally clearing the trial of false idols which is a level 200 quest. Otherwise you can get the class by learning some of the core skills directly by a Master Sword Priest.”

Eden pointed with a thin rod in his hand at the words 'Trial of False Priests' and 'Sword Priest' which were connected to each other by a line.

“Some powers of the class is to use the elements of the world in a different way from mages which use their mana and magic circles to control them. A sword priest however is more similar to ancient magic in it's nature since you do not need complicated incarnations and it is much more powerful than normal magic in the long run.”

The words 'Magic', 'Ancient Magic' and 'Elements' were the next to be pointed at.

“A lot of theory aside, a sword priest can use something similar to divinity by controlling an element. Basically there is some similarity between how Ron can use 'fire' and I can use 'fire' which is also similar to how mages normally use 'fire' as well.”

“What do you mean similar to you?” asked Lyndis.

“Right....well that's another lecture itself which you don't need to know right now” explained Eden.

“Why?”

“Since you asked...simply because some idiots might want to learn how to use the same method as me which is extremely bad in many ways. I directly convert my mana into magic via certain commands which in it's core nature is similar....no exactly the same as constructing tens to perhaps hundreds of magic circles in my head to cast a spell. Frankly, it's impossible for normal humans to replicate. The only reason I can seem to do this is because I was taught the correct method and the fact that it seems I am good at that kind of thing.”

“So....how do you compare to normal magic users?”

“Hmm....well certain spells require you to be able to use a certain amount of 'circles' in order to cast it. Flight magic which is a highly difficult magic to cast by normal standards, would be I think....7 circles. A regular fireball would be a 1 circle spell, fire blitz is a 2 circle and so on.....I rather not tell you on what level I can cast at the moment.”

“Okay then” Lyndis said hearing this, “If you rather not tell, I rather not ask.”

Eden let out a small smile, “Definitely the opposite of Alexandra.....”

“Basically a sword priest is similar to a magic-swordsman but instead of a variety of spells to use, a sword priest can normally only use one element.”

“Huh? I saw Ron use multiple elements even when the first time I met him.”

“Oh, that's because Ron isn't a complete human anymore so that restriction doesn't apply to him. It was quite the pain to modify him to make it so he can do that.”

“Is....the same thing going to happen to me?”

“No no, I already have a near immortal being as a sla-servant. I don't need another one, plus you can come back when you die while Ron cannot. Anyway it's time to explain some of the skill you will need to know for now.”

“So what am I to do?” asked Lyndis wanting to hurry this up a bit.

Eden was acting like an old geezer with a number of things to explain before the main point. An act of wisdom for the aged and wise but sheer boredom to the younger generation especially since Royal Road had you experience it 4 times the normal speed. The mental age of people increased dramatically as a result.

Ignoring this act of disrespect to him a bit Eden said, “For starters, get some basic sword skills like 'Power Strike' and 'Speed Strike' and some foot skills like Raven's 'Footwork' or perhaps something more elegant since you are taking after Ron....well I suppose I can figure that part out later. First let's focus on the sword skills that you are very lacking.”

“Right!” Lyndis was enthusiastic in learning new skills especially from someone as powerful as Eden who seems to have an unlimited supply of them.

“Since we are behind on schedule I will have you learn the skill via a skill book first then train on using them. Of course I'm going to let you use this method every time since it is straining to do even with low tier skills like this” Eden sighed bringing out a total of 5 skill books for Lyndis. From their appearance alone, they were at best E ranked skill books or F ranked skill books.

They were something very common and could be found easily in certain places and would only cost a few silver coins since they are mass produced to help out new, weaker people in this world. However Lyndis did not know that and accepted them gracefully.

“Ah~ Thank you Guildmaster!” taking the book out of Eden's hands. But before she started to learn them rapidly, Eden stopped her and said:

“By the way, what's your wisdom?”

“19 with bonuses why?”

Eden sighed in relief and said, “On average it's good to have around 50 wisdom for normal players. For magic users, the higher the better since it increases the chance that they will learn new skill and therefore many places where you learn new skills and spells will rent out items that increases wisdom and such. Having around 100 wisdom and the best point until you reach around level 300. Don't worry, learning skills will also increase wisdom and doing new actions will as well. The only problem is if you do the same action too many times that wisdom decreases since you are becoming too narrow minded.”

Lyndis took a bit to take all of that in, “....Got that!” before learning all 5 skills at once.

You have learnt the skill: Power Strike

You have learnt the skill: Speed Strike

You have learnt the skill: Power Stance

You have learnt the skill: Speed Stance

You have learnt the skill: Precision Stance

Wisdom increased by 5

Power Strike Beginner Level 1

Deals 50% more damage on the next blow. Will also increase the power of attacks by 1% passively

Mana Cost: 10

Cool Down: 1 SecondSpeed Strike Beginner Level 1

Next attack will be 50% faster. Will also increase the speed of attacks by 1% passively

Mana Cost: 10

Cool Down: 1 SecondPower Stance Beginner Level 1

Leaning forward aggressively will increase the power of attacks in exchange for more danger to the user as they charge head first into battle knowing they will be hit. A stance that will increase the power of attacks by 50% and defence by 10%Speed Stance Beginner Level 1

Moving side to side will cause enemies to be confused about the directions of the attacks to them and may seem to look like the blade is as fast as always but is actually faster than normal. A stance that will increase the speed of attacks by 50% and evasion by 10%Precision Stance Beginner Level 1

Staying back and observing the flow of the battle without being in the heat of it, blows will be more likely to be precise and critically damaging to enemies. A stance that will increase the accuracy of attacks by 50% and critical hit chance by 10%

Eden started explaining the skill one by one already just when Lyndis started to look through the new skills she gained.

“Both 'Power Strike' and 'Speed Strike' are skill that are the basic of the basic that people forget about them. However they are very useful since besides being active skills, they also have a slight passive effect on you as well so training it is good for foundations reasons. The three stances are also very useful as well though active skills, act like passive skills instead. They are activated naturally in the way you fight and do not cost mana to use. They are quite powerful to use initially but you will and many others have found that these skills will only increase in power when they reach intermediate and advance levels. Of course the secondary effects these skills have will increase bit by bit as they level up so there isn't that much to lose to levelling these skills up. It's just that many people are too impatient to train these skills enough for it to fully be useful compared to other skills.”

“I see...”

“Other than that, I nor Ron can teach you how to use those fire abilities of yours. They are something completely unique to you and you have to learn how to use them. Ah, I forgot to mention that the Fire Manipulation skill basically serves the same role as Fire Mastery which means you can't learn the latter so don't bother with that.”

Lyndis nodded to Eden's words.

“Now...for equipment....yes. If I recall, everyone's things were broken up into pieces one way or another right? Well everyone's except for Miriel and Serena which got out fine since their run was the easiest.”

Eden took out an exact copy of the armour Lyndis wore before and gave it to her who was in rags right now.

“Thank you” said Lyndis to this. She quite liked the armour she wore from Ron since it was easy to move in and yet wasn't ugly as hell to be seen in.

“Another thing is that you need a new sword...between the iron sword and that cleaver, which one felt better?” asked Eden.

“The iron sword though it would be better if it was a bit longer by a few centimetres” replied Lyndis.

“I see....”

Eden took out an iron sword that was around 5 centimetres longer than a normal one. It also looked much better as well with the sword being designed fairly well like a sword you would see in stories with the edge crooked a bit and the hilt being a crimson red with a red gem in the centre.

Eden gave this sword to Lyndis.

“This might be too much bit it will last a while, at least until level 100 I think. It was originally designed for Ron to use in the past but I think you can use it as well.”

Lyndis took the sword and examined it. The details of the sword was already unlocked.

Flame Iron Sword Durability: 70/70 Damage: 25-30

Designed by a master ranked designers with the intention of boosting the power of sword priests, this sword will enhance the abilities of one that walks with the element fire. The blade was designed in such a way that it deals more than average damage and the gem at the hilt of the sword will increase the power of flames

Restrictions:

- Level 50

- Sword Priest class

Options:

- Increase Sword Priest skills by 5%

- Deals 8% more damage on armoured foes

- Sword is perfectly balanced in all ways giving it higher durability, weapon speed and damage

Though Lyndis was honestly shocked on such a good sword falling in her hands, she kept those emotions to herself. There were other things to deal with now.

“Anyway since you were the first one to come up....chose the next person for me to give stuff to. Choose between Raven or Shadow since I'm going to do the rest together.”

Lyndis looked at the group and said, “Raven.”

“Hmm...why?”

“Simply because if he doesn't come up now, he will probably won't talk that much. I have that kind of hunch.”

“Well he seems like the type to not talk....all well, Raven come up so I can evaluate Park's training!” ordered Eden.

Raven and Lyndis switched places as rubbed the whiteboard clean for the next explanation.

“If I recall, you're a shield footman right? A truly balanced class to have for tanking damage. Also quite good at soloing as well if you feel to restricted by the group your in and want to go alone for a while.”

Eden drew the mini figures of Park and Raven on the whiteboard.

“First of all a shield footman is basically any unit that uses a shield as well. Think of Roman soldiers as a reference in what role they take. While alone they are quite strong, they truly shine in large groups. Just imagine 20 or so more people like you lined up in a row charging forward, it'll be a slaughter if not for the fact that magic and monsters exist in this world!”

More imagines appeared on the board as Eden drew, there were was a mini army there as well and monsters and mages on one side as they fought the mini army.

“Shield Footman is actually a common class among NPCs you know but players rarely have that class since it requires some basic training to obtain and besides it's one of the lower tier classes you can get via training at a military place. However because of that, they branch out quite far and after a while you can turn into a special type of knight instead of a normal type depending on which route you can chose. Even being a Dragon Knight, a legendary figure is possible with this common class!”

“As for tactics, Park has another class which I have no intention of tell you since it's a secret class, the higher tier of one that is that is impossible to get either way by normal and abnormal means. While Park does not use a shield, he is very skilled in using a spear which you also use. Of course 2 hands and one hand methods of using a spear is universes apart so don't even bother trying to copy Park in that department unless you want to lose the use of your shield.”

“....”

“Why does it seem like I'm talking to a wall here....?” Eden asked stopping his explanations.

“Then...what should I do from now on?” asked Raven being forced to talk part way by Eden.

“Oh, that;s up to you but you seem good using the shield and spear in a combination. You do have a tendency to charge forward as much as Lyndis over there as well but when you block you move backwards instead. Basically, what you know and act are dragging you down.”

Raven nodded.

“But Park's training truly covered all of the basics without a doubt. You can ask him later on what kinds of training you should do. But for now, I want to fix the problem you are currently having. I believe you recently also got into the habit of parrying other than blocking right?”

“Yes.”

“In that case....”

Eden like with Lyndis took out some skill books for Raven as well. This time there was only 3 books instead of 5.

“Reason for the less skill books is because you have a much better foundation compared to Lyndis over there.”

Raven nodded silently and used the books to learn new skills immediately.

You have learnt the skill: Shield Parry

You have learnt the skill: Spear Parry

You have learnt the skill: Body Reinforcement

Wisdom increased by 3

Shield Parry Beginner Level 1

Parry with the shield to knock back attacks thrown at you. Enemies rhythm will be interrupted if successful and has a chance to be stunned and higher critical chance. However if failed, damage taken will increase.

Increase Critical Hit Chance: 1%

Stun Chance: 1%Spear Parry Beginner Level 1

Parry with the spear to knock back attacks thrown at you. Enemies rhythm will be interrupted if successful and has a chance to be stunned and higher critical damage. If failed, you will be stunned momentarily and will not be able to dodge the next attack or block it.

Increase Critical Hit Damage: 3%

Stun Chance: 1%Body Reinforcement Beginner Level 1

Forge the body to endure the most dangerous attacks from all kinds of foes. This skill focuses on increasing the body's performance to the limits as to reduce the amount of damage you would take when hit.

Defence Increase: 1%

Agility Increase: 1%

“You have the one of the least mana of everyone so it's better to have skills that don't require mana to use. Both 'Parry' skills will be very powerful when you level them up properly. I gave you those two skills in order for you to have a much larger range of attacks. Body Reinforcement is kinda a rare skill that no one really wants since training it is only possible by being hit over and over again, similar to how endurance works. I think to get the skill to Intermediate Level, you need to gain around 400 endurance which is also the time to get the toughness stat. Don't focus too much on training it since it's a bonus since Park trained you quite well.”

Eden took out a few items for Raven. The first was a set of new armour that looked similar to the ones Park gave Raven all that time ago. However it seemed new and more intact as well this time. There were also more metal related defence on this set of armour as well.

“Since Park was being cheap....” muttered Eden under his breath.

Soldier Set of Fine Armour Durability: 50/50 Defence 40

Includes; a helmet, chest piece, arm guards, leggings and shoes. Made from mostly leather to reduce restrictions on movement and some iron parts at key points to protect vitals, this armour set is something that is a standard for all soldiers to have in their early days.

Restrictions:

- Level 50

- Melee Class

Options:

- Vitality +5

- Impact of blows will be decreased by a small bit

“I think you will fine that you will have a much easier time with this armour set since it was made for your body size unlike the one Park gave you on a whim. Now for your shield and spear....you were the more offence type right?”

Eden pulled out a relatively smaller shield compared to the one Raven had before which was more like a tower but had spikes on the end and a spear that was as long as the last one but has dual tips at the end.

Spiked Edged Iron Shield of Attacking Durability: 45/45 Defence: 15 Damage: 3-5

Spikes were placed in the design of this shield that will deal a small amount damage to foes that are hit by this shield. However because of this, the max durability of the shield was decreased by a bit as well as the defence as well.

Restrictions:

- Melee Class

- Level 55

Options:

- Strength +4

- Enemies will tend to avoid the side in which the shield is held due to it's frightening look.

Dual Tip Iron Spear Durability: 50/50 Damage: 20-23

A spear with dual tips in order to make it more difficult for foes to mend their wounds after being cut by it. The chance of foes bleeding will increase because of this.

Restrictions:

- Level 50

Options:

- Chance to Inflict Bleed will increase by 12%

- Strength +5

- Due to the masterful hands of making this, the balance of the spear is perfect

Raven nodded and went back to sit down with the other without a word hiding his emotions.

“Okay, Shadow come up~”

Things happened again with Eden cleaning and drawing new things on the whiteboard.

“Shadow, I'll be frank; I don't know what to teach you at all....well almost don't know since agility stealth type characters are something I can deal with but something that I cannot teach. To be honest, most of Anna's training was done on her own with some external help of course and I taught her some of her more powerful combat skills like the full body enchantment.”

Eden then looked as if he was relief, “HOWEVER! You are a natural, a genius of hiding your presence so you don't need to learn most of the stealth type skills. But I still don't know how to train you so I ask, do you rather go the stealth route or the combat route.”

Eden drew up two columns in which there were various words and pictures on them. He pointed at the first column with the words 'Stealth Route'.

“The full stealth route is as you expect and more aligned to the thief path where you focus on hiding your presence as much as possible and avoid combat. This route fully utilise your natural talent of hiding in plain sight! I expect later on you will become a master thief or something similar on this path.”

Eden then pointed to the other column which had the words 'Combat Route'.

“The other route; the other path you could take is the combat route which is much more dangerous for your development since that talent of yours might be wasted completely by this choice. The reason is that attacking something will inadvertently draw their attention especially later on with much more stronger creatures. However if you manage to keep your stealth abilities intact, then you will be much more frightening then the rest of the group since even they cannot sense you. Think of Anna's fighting style and add in the fact that it is very difficult to find her even in her onslaught of attacks.”

Shadow thought about the scene where Anna was shooting around the battlefield attacking Eden on all side.

“Guildmaster...didn't you completely beat down Anna like that?”

“Oh, that's because I'm much stronger than her. She's only around level 600 while the others are over level 700 in fact. Quite impressive for someone I trained for only 20 years” Eden added in.

'So she was trained from age 4 then...'

“In that case....can't I do both?” asked Shadow.

Eden pondered on this for a few seconds before saying, “Perhaps....but to do both is like telling a Barbarian who has no power over mana and a Mage who has a weak physical body to do each other's jobs while doing their own at the same time. Very difficult....but....”

Eden took out a silvery skill Book for Shadow. It was a B ranked skill book that would cost a few hundred gold to buy.

“It's up to you to learn most of your skills, well you can ask Anna as well. I think she would be happy to know that someone will inherit her original skills...well Gen managed to copy it partly but seeing it a few times. For you who is an agility based character, this would be a valuable gift.”

Shadow accepted the skill book and learnt what was in it by reading it.

You have learnt the skill: Burst Speed

Wisdom increased by 3

Burst Speed Beginner Level 1

Kicked off the ground and skies with get speeds that will surprise even the fastest of beings. This skills allows you to double your movement speed for a brief amount of time in exchange for rapid consumption of stamina.

Speed Increase: 2X (Where X is the original movement speed)

Mana Cost: 100 Mana

Time Limit: 2 Seconds

Cool Down: 5 Seconds

'This is....'

Shadow only thought of how much more he could do with this skill. It was an amazing skill that would further make him useful in all areas even if it only lasted for 2 seconds in total.

“This skill might be too much for you since you do have the lowest amount of intelligence and wisdom of the group. You, Raven and Lyndis should read some books to bring them up a bit slowly later on. Also from what I saw you were the type to want to escape immediately away from enemies after you attack...a longer blade weapon would be best.”

Eden took out the exact same set of armour Shadow had before and a new blade. It was twice as long as his dagger from before but it seems to fit naturally in his hands. Shadow checked the description of the new weapon.

Short Sword of Backstabbing Durability: 40/40 Damage: 10-14

Made with the intention of stabbing the weak points of foes while also allowing to block and attack normally as well. Due to the design of the weapon, it can be counted as either a short sword or a dagger.

Restrictions:

- Level 50

- Melee Class

Options:

- Backstabbing will have a 30% higher chance of dealing a critical hit

- Backstabbing skill +2 Rank

- Damage dealt at weak points of enemies will increase by 13%

Before Shadow could say anything to thank Eden, he already started to move onto the next thing saying:

“Anyway, I'll create some things in this Vortex World for you guys to train on while I talk to the other three.”

With that, in a distance, a large building; similar to an ancient Asian training ground appeared.

“Something to get you in the mood~” said Eden before teleporting them over there immediately without warning. Then he looked at Sain, Miriel and Serena who were the magic users of the group.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

“Anyway now to the group in which I can actually teach since I'm a magic user” Eden sighed a bit in relief and distress at the same time thinking about it.

“I'll be blunt with you lot again since this part has been worrying me too much here. You guys are too passive! All the damage are being dealt by the other three! All you guys have are support spells and are very lacking in offence spells!”

“....”

The three did not say anything to the criticism from Eden since it was a valid point. Magicians and another magic users had some of the strongest offensive powers in the game even early on dealing the most damage in all forms with their magic but theses three did not take advantage of that and settled into a lower role of leaving it mostly to the others. As such they had the least survival rates of the group.

Raven could tank damage, Shadow could disappear in battle and Lyndis could attack and dodge attacks using her high stats in those areas. On the other hand, Sain was a all general use person with even stats in all areas while Miriel and Serena only had high intelligence and wisdom than the rest of the group and but still needed people to protect them while casting. Even with their higher agility stats, in the end speed doesn't matter if you can't escape to begin with.

“First of all, from what I know, all of you process at least some attack magic but at a very minor level except for Serena....also Serena...why do you have a powerful blood magic spell? That's something that not many people would have since it's gory and most people seem to frown on using such magic....”

Eden sighed again and continued the explanation.

“Basically I'm going to teach you guys the spells that you are lacking right now. Sain, a Shaman can also buff their allies and attack using a variety of spells not just what you are doing right now. Miriel, your method of buffing is unique to bards and as such you should take advantage of that skill. You lack the many buff variation of your skill and cannot bring out the full potential of what Jenny taught you. Serena, A druid is similar to a shaman in a way but is heavily aligned with using nature magic, summoning magic and so on. It's very powerful when you train it right.”

Eden took a deep breath in and out before turning to Sain first.

“I'm going to address you all individually but do pay attention since it may relate to you as well. Sain...why the hell do you have the useless 'summon familiar' skill that can only summon weaker monsters? Unless you max it out, you can only summon monsters that are tens of levels below you most of the time. For summoning, you should be a specific type one to ensure you know what you will get out of it. You were quite good at using the wolf familiar right?”

“Yes...” replied Sain.

“In that case, I'm going to give you a sort of rare summoning skill for wolves. The number and power of these wolves depend on you in the end....well good luck not getting eaten before making the contract....”

“...eh?” Sain thought he misheard what Eden said. What was going to happen about him being eaten?

“Ah! Don't worry about it yet, the next thing is that you lack a proper range attack magic...magic bolt is useful in distracting enemies since it has little power and a mild knock back effect...but that's it. A spell like Magic Arrow which does piercing damage is much more useful in the end.”

“I see....” Sain was quite depressed since he took training that 'mana bolt' skill quite seriously and Eden just said that it was quite useless.

“But continue training it.”

“Eh?”

“When facing weaker monsters, it's a good skill to wipe out a bunch of enemies at once. I believe you can cast over a hundred of those mana bolts in one go when you master the skill. It's very powerful as long as you have the proper power to back it up though I think it would be more useful in Miriel's hands in the end either way....”

Eden took out two spell books and passed them to Eden. They titled 'Wolf Summoning' and 'Magic Arrow'. Sain learnt them both immediately.

You have learnt the spell: Wolf Summoning

You have learnt the spell: Magic Arrow

You have gained 3 Wisdom

Wolf Summoning Beginner Level 1

A spell to summon a wolf to make a contract with. The level of the summoned wolf depends on your skill proficiency and level. In order to make a contract with the wolf, you must prove that you are stronger than it and dominate it as wolves will not follow those who are weaker than it.

Mana Cost: 200

Number of Contracted Wolves possible: 1Magic Arrow Beginner Level 1

Fire a piercing arrow made of mana at high speeds! Number of arrows made and power behind each arrows depends on skill proficiency

Mana Cost: 20

Arrow Number: 1

Cool Down: 5 Seconds

The main difference between skill books and spell books in which you can learn new skills or spell from is that skill books don't have a wisdom requirement and can be learnt as long as you meet the other requirements it has. Spell books on the other hand do have wisdom restrictions and that is why many mage guild stock on wisdom increasing items to rent out to players learning spells.

“They are a bit more mana costly compared to the other two skills you have but they are much more powerful. Ah, I forgot to mention but the Wolf Summoning contract is similar to a normal contract with a monster where it will share some experience from you and it can grow and can be resummoned after dying. The only difference is that you need to use mana to summon it into battle each time though there is no time limit on the stay and resummoning.”

Eden was about to go to Miriel on her lecture as well but Sain then asked:

“What about buffing and my healing spells? And my melee skills as well?”

“Oh, buffing can be left to Miriel and Serena, having more than 2 people buff you at the same time instead of attacking is a waste of time later on. As for healing...as you are, healing is fine if you combine it with Serena's spells as well. As for melee....you are the type of person to stay back and watch other fight while supporting them right?

“Yes” Sain recalled that most of the time he was supporting the others at the front with magic attacks and heals. It was only when they were overwhelmed that he was forced to fight at the front as well. It wasn't that he was weak at melee but that he didn't have any skills to back him up unlike the others.

“Well then you don't need to learn any melee skills then. Having a spare spear at time is more than enough. Most shamans either main melee or magic and sub the other. It's very rare that you find someone who does both since it usually means their skill proficiency is much lower than other people. Pick the magic side first but train the melee side as well just in case.”

When your skill proficiency is high, it is very apparent to other people since you will be praised and such for training your skills. If your skill proficiency was low, then chances are that the power of your skills and spells are weak and there is a good chance that you will fail to cast the spell or skill and get stunned for a while in battle which is fatal. Because Sain knew this, he nodded to Eden's suggestion.

“Hmm...since there is a good chance that you will have to go melee out of nowhere having a staff is quite annoying in those situations....in that case.”

Eden threw a ring at Sain.

“This ring will give you the same effect as a low quality staff like the one you were using before....well before it was destroyed. It's a freebie since I don't cast magic using staves or the likes either way.”

Sain looked carefully at the ring before putting it on.

Ring of poor casting Durability: 30/30 Defence: 0

Gives the effects of casting with a low quality staff

Restrictions:

- None

Options:

- Intelligence +1

- Wisdom +1

“Mind you that this effect can't be stacked with a staff as well. Also....here. Armour and a new spear as well.”

Leather Armour Set Durability: 50/50 Defence: 25

A Leather Armour set that is quite plain and has no extra effects

Iron Spear of Reach Durability: 60/60 Attack: 15-20

An Iron Spear that seems to have a higher reach than normal even though it looks the same length as other spears.

Options:

- Extra reach of 3 cm

“That spear is quite useful against weaker foes, the stronger ones like death knight will immediately see through the trick on this spear. Also useful in making surprise attack as well. Anyway go train with the others as well but don't make a contract with a wolf just....imagine a Cerberus coming out....”

Eden flicked his wrist and Sain was covered in blue light and immediately teleported to the other instantly.

“....”

Miriel and Serena could only stare at Eden astonished at his free like actions that has no restrictions at all. If Eden would ever be the enemy of the Empire, the it would be likely that the Empire would fall. That was the kind of impression he was giving.

“Say Guildmaster....” said Miriel, “What level are you? You said our masters were level 600-700 but it looked like you were toying with even them.”

Eden once again sighed and explained, “Didn't I say that both sides wasn’t using their full strength? If it's them they could possibly match a level 800 as well....well I might tell you later after this training and I show you the ropes of being in this guild.”

“First of all since I am honestly lacking in knowledge of how Druids do things, I'll only teach you; Serena some basic spells that I know a Druid will have. Second; Miriel you have to choose to either get attack spells or continue with your unusual buffing spells.”

Eden took out a spell book for Serena and she learnt the spell immediately.

You have learnt the spell: Root Bind

Root Bind Beginner Level 1

Creates Roots around the legs of enemies to restrict them.

Mana Cost: 30

Casting: 3 Seconds

Cool Down: 20 Seconds

“Right....a powerful group healing spell would do good as well....I hope Mel doesn't mind that much...”

Eden gave Serena another spell book which she also learnt.

You have learnt the spell: Heartbeat Healing

Heartbeat Healing Beginner Level 1

A spell which heals a bit of heal over time with the flow of energy in the body in a wide area. Heals a health point per second for the party passively for 10 minutes when you cast this spell.

Mana Cost: 100

Casting: 10 Seconds

Coo Down: 5 Minutes

“Although I would like to teach you some other spells like summoning or powerful nature buffing spells, I think I would be best for Mel to teach you that. Plus I don't want her to hassle me of teaching you useless things. Anyway focus on training your healing spells first since they are in fact very powerful later on. When you appear at the training area I made, there should be a space for you to practise in along with other training equipment.”

With this Eden teleported Serena to the training area where the others were. He turned to Miriel and asked:

“Have you made your choice yet?”

Miriel then immediately answered, “Yes, I want to learn attack spells from you” with a firm resolution in her eyes.

“I would be happy to but it's also good to bring up your support spell as well. It's actually quite powerful and broken in some ways. After reaching intermediate level, you can add two effects at once and at Advance level you can add four effects at once. The boost in stats is also quite large when you combine it with magic and sound mastery as well!”

Miriel nodded noticing that the spell was increasingly becoming more powerful as she trained it up. In fact even though it was only in the beginner levels with the other mastery skills, it could increase everyone's stat in one area by a quarter and it wasn't even halfway there to intermediate yet.

“Well the true power of that spell isn't in increasing stats alone. You can also increase resistance as well, immunity to certain debuffs and even double health and mana regen as well. Quite overpowered when you think about it. The only problem is it takes way too long to train it to that point and many people give it up for more immediate effect spells that are easier to train. Anyway what kind of spells are you looking at?”

“Ice Magic.”

“Ho~ Wouldn't that counter Lyndis' element though?”

“That's the point, against a fire strong foe, she is more or less useless with her fire. Therefore I need to learn how to use Ice Magic to counter that possibility.”

“Hmm....sure. Although normally I would want you to learn wind magic which is useful in many ways and water magic which can double up for healing as well later on but you already have sound and illusion magic under your belt.”

“Why would you say that I would need to learn water and wind magic?” asked Miriel. It was known that to use Ice Magic, all you needed was to learn the Ice Magic Mastery skill.

“Oh, with both of them, you could combo and increase the power of your ice magic by several times. Normally Ice Magic uses the water particles in the air to form and it is actually quite powerful right?”

“Yes” Miriel nodded since powerful Ice mages could create a giant ice spear in the air to attack even with little water around them.

“Basically with water, the power of these spells increase in strength as well and is especially useful in trapping enemies in ice on land. I used this tactic quite a number of times in the past. Anyway with this basic 'Ice Bolt' spell, you'll be able to learn 'Ice Magic Mastery' as well” Eden handed over a spell book to Miriel to learn.

You have learnt the spell: Ice Bolt

You have gained the skill: Ice Magic Mastery

Ice Bolt Beginner Level 1

Create a small sized bolt of ice to fire at enemies.

Mana Cost: 15

Number of Ice Bolts: 1

Cast Time: 2 Seconds

Cool Down: 5 Seconds

Ice Bolt is one of the most basic Ice Magic skills. Due to it's low costs, cast time and cool down, many ice mages train this spell up since it has a moderate amount of power later on and can be used in between other spells to deal more damage. Plus it also deals physical damage as well so it's more useful in some ways compared to 'fireball'.

“Anyway I think when you reach Beginner Level 5 in 'Melody of Sound' some new options of which buff you can have will increase by 4. Every 5 levels you will get a new set of 4 buffs to play with. Make sure you train it a lot since that is one of the core spells you will use later on. If your worried about not having enough choice, go speak to Jenny about it.”

“Right now you can train with the others.....oh yeah, it'll be great if you can produce some new spells on your own as well. Tell this to the others that they can create new skills and spells as long as they repeat it enough on their own.”

With that, Eden also teleported Miriel to the training area with the others.

[p=center]xXx[/p]

“Sigh....teaching people properly is more of a pain than I thought it would be....especially since they are all brats....” muttered Eden on his own.

However he wasn't really alone and there was another person watching him from afar. Soon enough the bland and colourless white floor turned into ground and grass of a simple plains. Alexandra was another person who had control over this Vortex World. The sky soon turned into night as the two talked.

“What do you expect Eden” said Alexandra walking to him hearing what he just said, “llyfr had a time trying to teach you and you were the type to learn things extremely fast.”

“...True it was mostly him forcing me to learn skills left and right....most of the theory was taken up by Warlic along with my readings in 'that' place” replied Eden thinking back as he stared into the night sky.

“Hmm...~ Anyway you think they will become strong enough to be of use?”

Alexandra sat next to Eden without much concern. They have been together since a long time ago and they both grew out of the stage where they would attack each other at this point.

“Who know....anyway you finished researching of their circumstances?” asked Eden.

“More or less, as long as we give them what they want, they can focus completely on our matter. Orphans taken in by a rich man wanting them to do an impossible task...well almost impossible. If we used our authority, we can find that girl quite quickly.”

“Don't. Only do that when they prove themselves useful enough” replied Eden coldly.

“Oh~ Even though you were quite motivated to teach them, in the end you're always the same; not caring for almost anyone” teased Alexandra.

“If I did care then there would be too many people to protect. To many situations where they will be taken hostage against me. Remember why we decided to hide our influence from this world in the first place? There are too many possible enemies and it's too much of a pain to deal with all of them!”

“Haha, even though you could simply turn into Dragon form and scare the shit out of them you rather have the citizens have a peace of mind.”

“Naturally, they're all in the end pawns of a grand game.”

“Then what about the seal of that 'thing'? Judging by the fact that this continent isn't plunged into chaos, the seal is still working right?”

“Yeah....but I can feel that the time is coming...slowly but surely....I don't know until the time comes on which side I will be on. Supposedly 'that' has a higher rank than me even now and has the right and power to command the 'others' as well.”

Eden sighed....he did not know what will happen and if everything he did would be wasted in the end.

“Isn't that possibility the reason why I abandoned the power of Divinity and took on the 'Sun Authority' in the first place? I'm sure I have enough power to take half of you down with me”

Eden chuckled, “The who will take care of the other half then?”

“Viv of course!” Alexandra said with utter confidence, “You do know he upgraded his powers recently right? Though that was a few years ago...”

Alexandra and Eden stared at the stars in this Vortex World. In the end they had no power over the future and what it will become no matter how strong they become.

“I can only hope those brats will become strong enough to be of use by then” muttered Eden.

Alexandra looked a but depressed and said, “Yeah...the reason for this Guild is to destroy you in the first place....”

“Well....” Eden replied slowly, “It would be nice if things goes well and they are not used against me and rather towards 'it' in the first place...”

Onwards?PreviousExitNext

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Author's Notes:

- Word Count: 9800~

- Yay...writing for six characters in a row is extremely painful to do....

- I finished chapter 4 yesterday so I'll be able to post it tomorrow but....did not start on chapter 5 yet...well this may be the end of daily posting for me...